Kelce College of Business maintains AACSB accreditation

Pittsburg State University’s Kelce College of Business has once again secured the backing of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide.

Pittsburg State University’s Kelce College of Business has once again secured the backing of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide.

On Friday, the Kelce College of Business received word that it has maintained its business accreditation by AACSB International. Less than 5 percent of the world's 13,000 business programs have earned AACSB Accreditation.

“AACSB accreditation is important to the Kelce College of Business because it reaffirms the value of our programs and serves as a signal to students and employers that we are providing business education at the highest level of quality,” said Kelce COB Dean Paul Grimes. “Kelce graduates leave the Pittsburg State campus knowing that they can compete successfully in the global marketplace alongside graduates from the top business schools in the world.”

Robert Reid, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB International, said earning accreditation is not an easy task.

“It takes a great deal of commitment and determination to earn and maintain AACSB Accreditation,” Reid said. “Business schools must not only meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans, faculty, and professional staff must make a commitment to ongoing continuous improvement to ensure that the institution will continue to deliver the highest quality of education to students.”

Grimes said he is proud of the Kelce faculty and staff for the hard work they put in to maintain the college’s quality of excellence.

“As dean, I am very proud of the Kelce faculty, staff and students who spent many months preparing for our re-accreditation visit,” Grimes said. “AACSB recently introduced new standards by which business schools are judged, and we were one of the first eight schools in the world to apply these standards to our programs. It took some courage to be evaluated under standards that had not been tested before and I applaud my colleagues for taking that forward-looking step.”

Founded in 1916, AACSB International is the longest serving global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees in business and accounting.